Design for Social Value: Design and Politics

Design for Social Value: Design and Politics

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The systems that shape our society have been built incrementally over time and have evolved to serve myriad agendas: cultural, social, economic, political. Incremental change makes long-term impact difficult to anticipate as changing one part can unexpectedly change the system as a whole. Political forces in particular play a significant role in the development of these systems and political interest outweighs that of the individual. This directly impacts our society resulting in invisible and visible constraints on services and limited individual engagement and access.

Throughout this three-week course we will explore a specific area of civil society and identify where and how it is falling short for those it is intended to serve. From this discovery, we will develop design interventions and solutions that explore how to circumvent and alleviate the design constraints that are politically motivated.

Past courses have explored two highly politicized arenas: healthcare and the electoral process.

Course Objectives:

Students are encouraged to think critically how political forces shape the environments they are designing for. This requires not only challenging assumptions and identifying specific constraints, but also the understanding of the forces that shape the political discourse and the legislative process. This course will challenge students to conduct small-scale interventions, rapidly prototype ideas, and quickly iterate based on feedback.

Class Experience:

This course combines a studio experience with a workshop model and research. Students will conduct research and think critically through a process of system mapping, concept development, and prototyping. Students will work in teams and be responsible for contributing to in-class discussions and developing presentations to explain findings and concepts. This is a discovery and process-focused course that places more emphasis on concept development than finished product.

Course Deliverables:

Students will be responsible for presenting their teams’ design interventions at various points throughout the course. Critique and comments from classmates will drive later iterations of the concept and inform the final presentation. Each team will be responsible for submitting a final presentation that includes research and explanation of concept.

Interested in learning more about a career in design, about effecting change in the world, and transforming your future? Email us or call us at the number below to arrange a visit or Skype call. We’d love to meet you!

INSTAGRAM FEED

FEATURED PROJECTS

Julia Lindpaintner’s thesis work was inspired by her own experience of serving on a grand jury in Manhattan during the summer of 2016. It profoundly changed her understanding of the judicial system, and in particular, the way she saw her role in it. “My mental model shifted,” Julia states. She further explains, “Instead of seeing the judicial system as an autonomous force over which I had no influence, I felt viscerally the way in which we, as citizens, are collectively responsible for the system and the outcomes it produces.”

As part of SVA Products of Design’s partnership with Veterans Affairs (and held through the Design Research and Integration class taught by IDEO’s Lawrence Abrahamson) , designers Jiani Lin, Alexia Cohen, Teng Yu, William Crum, and Antriksh Nangia used design to examine gender and the military—creating two design proposals aimed at changing the way people “see” women veterans.

NEWS & PRESS

Join us at this year's Open House and Information Session, taking place on Wednesday, November 14th, 2017—from 6-8:30pm! Attendees will be able to meet faculty, alumni, and current students, see projects, learn about the program, tour the studio, classroom spaces, and Visible Futures Lab, and ask questions about life at Products of Design. Delicious refreshments will be shared throughout the session.

We are extraordinarily proud that for the entire month of April, the two New York-based MoMA Design Stores are dedicating their windows and in-store displays to the collaboration with MFA Products of Design department! For the launch of 6 new products, an Opening Reception was held in midtown Manhattan last Thursday night. Check out photos below of the packed house, guests, and featured products designed by Products of Design students!